VANCOUVER — Denison Mines (DML-T, DNN-X) has 20,000 metres of drilling planned for the summer at its 60%-owned Wheeler River project following more high-grade uranium hits this past winter.
The company is exploring the Athabasca basin-based project along with joint-venture partners Cameco (CCO-T, CCJ-N) and JCU Exploration, which respectively hold a 30% and 10% interest.
Denison, operator of the project, recently hit very high-grade uranium intercepts at what is known as the Phoenix zone. The winter program, consisting of 8,000 metres of drilling over 16 holes, extended the strike length of the northeast-trending zone to over 250 metres and remains open at both ends.
Near the southwest end of the zone, Hole 306 cut 7.5 metres grading 33.22% U3O8 starting at 407 metres, close to where hole 267 hit 3.5 metres grading 19.98%. Hole 305, northeast of 306, hit 6.5 metres carrying 25.5% U3O8 from 402 metres downhole.
Earlier this year the company reported further results from the winter program, including hole 300 that hit 2.5 metres averaging 30.19% U3O8 from 407 metres and hole 299 that cut 3.7 metres returning 8.88% U3O8.
Holes 296, 298A, 303, 304, 307, 309A and 310, also drilled as part of the winter program, did not intersect significant mineralization.
Last year, the company hit more high-grade results at Phoenix including 6 metres of 62.6% U3O8 in hole 273, 7.6 metres carrying 32.8% U3O8 in hole 287, and 9 metres averaging 16.8% U3O8 in hole 286.
The upcoming summer program is spreading the 20,000 metres of drilling over 45 holes. One rig will concentrate on the main Phoenix zone A while a second will focus on area D, to the northeast of the main Phoenix zone. A third rig will be added to test geophysical anomalies along the favourable horizon over a strike length of 7 km to the northeast and southwest of the known zone A.
Denison is to pay $3.6 million of the expected $7 million in exploration costs this year.
Alteration over the mineralization is described as a classic Athabasca basin deposit style with strong silification/desilification, drusy quartz, pyrite, dravite and hydrothermal hematite.
Ron Hochstein, president of Denison, said in a recent conference call that the company believes it to be one of the most promising new discoveries in the area in the last 20 years. The company’s internal calculations already estimate the project as the fifth largest in the Athabasca basin.
The three joint-venture partners plan to complete an initial resource estimate on the area by year end.
Denison’s share price remained largely unchanged after the latest drill results, closing at $1.48. The company’s 52-week trading range is between $2.39 and $1.17 and it has 340 million shares outstanding.
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